30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Why doesn't this guy just fade off into the sunset?

I don't hide my love for Don West. In fact, I consider him a hobby hero. The guy would entertain me and my buddy into the wee hours during the 90's. In short... the guy was hilarious with hilarious with his overdramatic and exaggerated sports card and memorabilia claims.But his partner in crime... Ken Goldin is another story. Since he filed for bankruptcy and his company (Score Board) left tons of collectors waiting for unfulfilled redemptions back in the mid 90's, I've always considered him to be shady.In my biased mind, Mr. West was sort of the village idiot, while Mr. Goldin was the sleazy car salesmen. I was entertained by one and annoyed by the other.Well... guess what? Goldin is back...

And this time he's running an auction site, which happens to be selling the original document that banned Pete Rose from baseball back in 1989. The document is signed by Rose, Fay Vincent, and Bart Giamatti... who passed away eight days after the signing.If you're bored, I encourage you to take a few minutes to check out this video:

You'll get to hear Goldin's explanation on why it's "the single most significant document in the history of baseball." Seriously... those are his words exactly. Don't get me wrong... it's a pretty cool piece of history, but hardly the single most significant document in the history of baseball.

Have you ever watched Don West during his Shop at Home years? What'd you think?

Like I said... I loved him. But it's hard not to feel bad for some of those grandmothers who would call in to buy their grandchildren's Christmas presents.

It's hard not to feel bad about the people who were talked into buying their trash. I understand that it's up to the consumer to do their research, but I'm sure a lot of these people had never collected cards.

I think I remember him. He'd offer like a million cards, say they were worth $300 but he was selling them to you for only $40. And I'd say to myself, if he's selling them for $40 they're only worth $20. Hard to believe people fell for that.

It was bad enough when he was on shop at home but it got much worse when he was on TNA wrestling. That annoying voice......I CAN'T GET IT OUT of my head. On the bright side he has left TNA and went on to "other supposedly better" things.

I've seen Don's Wild West Deals on youtube for a chuckle. I loathe both of them personally, but Goldin is way worse than West. Trying to sell BCCG "GEM Mint" Michael Jordan rookie cards when it's just those crappy North Carolina cards, and 87 Topps Baseball, it really insults your intelligence. They would outright LIE to your face about stuff they were selling. Couldn't imagine anyone buying their crap (except Goldin did hawk UDA stuff on his show if I recall)

As an insomniac, I've always had a soft spot for Don West. There has been a great discussion regarding Goldin Auctions and Ken Goldin at http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=155017. At the National, I saw him standing around the wares for his first auction. Some of the items were quite impressive, but not my cup of tea.

About Me

I've been collecting cardboard off and on since the early 80's. I'm presently collecting. But who knows what the future holds in store for me.
One thing is for certain... I'll have my blog to help relive some of my favorite hobby moments.